


Girl Talk

by byerswheeler84



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Trigger: F word, Trigger: Q word, We need more of that!, Will & El Brother/Sister Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 14:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14334771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byerswheeler84/pseuds/byerswheeler84
Summary: Will and El have a bonding moment. Mike decides to interrupt.





	Girl Talk

“Thanks for letting me paint your nails, Will. No one else lets me do this to them,” El said with a small smile, her eyes almost crossing from concentrating on painting Will’s right index finger.

The small boy shrugged slightly, causing El to glare up at him for almost messing up her paint job. “Don’t mention it, Ellie.” 

The two were sitting in the middle of Will’s bed. Will was flipping a comic book with one hand as El was painting his nails on the other. They had gotten closer since Hopper had moved in with Joyce and the boys, bringing El along with him. El took Jonathan’s room since he was in New York for college.

“So Will,” El started off slow, almost as if she was unsure of what she was about to say. She put the cap back on the nail polish and screwed it shut.

Will didn’t bother glancing up from his comic book. “Hmm?”

“Do you have feelings for Mike?”

Will froze mid page turn, and he stared blankly at the words in front of him. His mind was jumping from one thought to the next every second. How did she figure it out? Am I that obvious? Thoughts like these kept sprouting up as El looked on curiously.

When Will finally came to his senses he looked up at her and managed to squeak out a “How..?”

El rolled her eyes slightly and opened her mouth to speak when the door of the bedroom flew open and Mike walked in.

“Hey guys! Joyce let me in if that’s okay?” Mike’s voice trailed off when he saw the panicked expression on Will’s face and the inquisitive look on El’s. 

Mike barely walked into the room when El shoved him out of it using her powers and slammed and locked the door all while saying “This is girl talk, so leave.”

“You know El,” Mike’s voice was muffled, and annoyed, from the other side of the door, “It’s rude to just telepathically kick people out of the room and slam the door on their faces.”  
“Would you have left otherwise?” El shot back.

There was a brief pause.

“Probably not.” Mike sounded defeated. “I guess I’ll just come back later then…” El listened until she couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore and then turned back to Will.

“So…?” 

Will looked at the ground and started shaking his head. For the past eight years Will had kept his unrequited crush on Mike a secret. For the past eight years no one even came close to cracking that side of him. Not his mom, not even Jonathan. But Jane ‘Eleven’ Hopper managed to bury her way inside a place in his heart that he’s kept locked up for almost a decade, in just a year of knowing him.

Will felt a hand grasp his shoulder, which made him look up. El was looking at him, her eyes soft, as if she understood what he was going through. And in a way, she did. Ever since Will had come back from the upside down, he and El had a connection. They could telepathically feel what the other was feeling during certain moments. This was apparently one of them.

He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth slowly, like his therapist taught him.

“I do. I have for an extremely long time; a longer time than I’d care to admit.” Will smiled weakly up at El. “Please don’t tell him. I’m scared enough debating on telling him that I’m gay. I can’t imagine his reaction if I told Mike I’m gay for him.” Will started to panic now that he’s said this out loud. He got up from the bed and began to pace. “I mean, what if he starts calling me queer and fag-”

“You know he wouldn’t do that to you,” El interrupted. “He cares about you too much to hurt you like that. Or hurt anybody like that, but especially you. He loves you.”

Will turned around to face her. “Don’t say that please.” His voice breaking halfway through.

“You need to talk to him, Will. You need to at least tell him you’re gay.” El could see him about to interrupt so she held up a finger. “I’m not saying tell Mike you’ve had feelings for him for the past eight years. You need to start small.”

“Oh, yeah. ‘Cause coming out to someone is starting small,” Will said sarcastically. He sighed. “I’m sorry, Ellie. That was rude. It’s just...hard.” He laid on the bed, put his hands on his face and rubbed his eyes. “I wish I was confident enough to tell Mike I’m gay. I wish I wasn’t absolutely terrified of him never talking to me again. I wish for so many things that I can’t do,” Will sat up with his hands on his knees, looking El dead in the eye. “But I can’t. I’m not brave enough. I’m not strong enough for that.”

El took Will’s hands in her own. 

“ I know that I’ve only known you for a year, but I know that you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. You’re my brother, Will. You’re family. Family doesn’t lie either.”

“So...I should tell Mike?” Will asked.

“Tell me what?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys again for reading! Writing is one of my favorite things to do, especially for Stranger Things. I hope y'all enjoyed!


End file.
